3 Simple Steps to Creating New Habits

You walk into your home and you kick off your shoes in the hallway. You’ve done this ever since you could toddle. You don’t want dirty shoes on the carpet, so you leave them in the hall. That’s a great habit to have. If only you could remember to hang your coat on the hook instead over the bannister… how come you have a great habit and the one that’s not so hot, you just can’t correct?

We all have times in our lives where we intentionally want to change our behaviour for the better. This means creating new habits for ourselves. This could be the so-called simple things like getting in the habit of eating healthier, or drinking more water. It could be moving more, eating less and taking the dog for a daily walk before she whines and looks longingly at her lead.

Maybe it’s work related, or spiritual, or… There are so many areas in our lives that you may be wishing to improve and feel that life would be easier if we just did these things.

Getting into the habit of doing something is often easier said than done. We seem to attract bad habits without any effort, but getting into a “good” habit can be a little more challenging.

Let’s break it down into a three step process that makes it easy to follow until we’ve internalized the new behaviour and made it a true habit – something we do automatically without having to think about, like brushing our teeth.

1 – Decide What You Want To Do

The first step is to decide what you want that new habit to be. Be as specific as possible. Don’t just tell yourself you want to exercise more if that worked you wouldn’t ne reading this right now. Instead say something like “I will go for a 30 minute walk every single day”. If you struggle with this, try an Affirmation (by Noah St John, book of the same name) and say “Why do I find going for a walk every day so enjoyable?” or “Why do I look forward to my 30 minute walk every day?”

Deciding what your new habit will be and then commit to it. Not a wishy-washy commitment, but a full on teenage crush style commitment. You know the kind that has people rolling their eyes, but you are all into it. That’s the level of commitment you want for your new habit.

2 – Remind Yourself To Get It Done

The next few days should be smooth sailing. You’re motivated and excited to get this done. Sticking to your new habit isn’t an issue. But a few days in you’ll notice that it’s easy to slip back into old routines.

Maybe it’s raining and you don’t really want to go out and walk. Or maybe your day just gets away from you (who hasn’t had one of those?). This is when it’s important to have a daily reminder. Set an alert on your phone or add the new habit to your daily to-do list for a while.

3 – Make It Part Of Your Routine Until It Becomes A Habit

Which brings us to the last step. It takes some time before a new behaviour becomes a true habit. There’s only one way to make change happen overnight, and that’s a Hypnotherapy session with Honey. Until then, a routine will work to your advantage. Even before the new behaviour becomes automatic, a routine will help you get it done without having to spend a lot of willpower or relying on daily reminders.

Which leads me nicely into… Sometimes a bad, or no longer useful habit is so deeply embedded that you need some help to clear it out. There’s nothing like a bit of Hypnotherapy to help you get a new habit firmly in place, and kick and old one to touch. If you find yourself habitually breaking new habits get Honey’s help.